It has always bugged me.
– Let me backtrack for a minute. As many of you know, we are studying the Doctrine & Covenants, and Church history in Gospel Doctrine this year. A couple weeks ago, this might have been useful information. Back to the post:
It has always bugged me that we don’t know the date of the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood. We have the exact date of that John the Baptist came down and restored the Aaronic Priesthood. (May 15, 1829) Some time later, the Apostles Peter, James and John restored the Melchizedek Priesthood to the prophet Joseph Smith. I know this to be true. Not a doubt in my mind. I consider it a great honor to hold this very same priesthood today, and cherish the ability to trace my priesthood lineage back to this very event.
But we don’t know when, or where it actually happened. We can narrow it down to probably sometime in 1829, or at least before the Church was restored in 1830, but we don’t know for sure. We also are fuzzy on where it took place. We know that Joseph was a prolific writer and record keeper, so why didn’t he write about this event? It was one of the most important events in human history, and was barely mentioned.
To make it worse, those who would see harm done to the Church have always seized on this lack of specificity to claim that it didn’t really happen, and that Joseph merely thought it up later to consolidate his power. Hogwash.
I wish Joseph had written it down. (You all should know by now that Brother Joseph is one of my heroes, so don’t get worried.)
Then, during the week, I was comfortably settled in my Cave of Self-Righteousness, reading out of the book “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” page 72. The following paragraph jumped out at me:
“After prayer by President Joseph Smith, Jun., he said, if we heard patiently, he could lay before the council an item which would be of importance. He had for himself, learned a fact by experience, which, on recollection, always gave him deep sorrow. It is a fact, if I now had in my possession, every decision which had been had upon important items of doctrine and duties since the commencement of this work, I would not part with them for any sum of money; but we have neglected to take minutes of such things, thinking, perhaps, that they would never benefit us afterwards.”
Now I feel terrible. The Prophet Joseph knew there were things that got missed along the way, and it gave him “great sorrow.” As I think about it, I can’t even imagine how many things he had to worry about, how many people pulling on him, a family to provide for, revelations to receive, a book of scripture to translate and publish. He had a busy life. And he felt bad about what he missed. Now I feel bad for being bugged.
But some calloused, insensitive soul might say, “But this was one of the most important events in human history. He still should have made it a priority.”
Now, things that happen in my life are not usually categorized as the “most important events in human history,” but there are a few that I would deem important that I have neglected to write about. Such as:
• My wedding day. Best day of my life. Undocumented except by photos and some terrible video.
• The birth of the first FOML.
• The birth of the second FOML.
• …Third
•…Fourth
•…Fifth
• The passing of my Mom
• The passing of my Dad
• Receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood (Don’t you love irony?)
• Being called to be Bishop
• Being released as Bishop
• Etc.
(You get the idea.)
But I have had time to write over 500 anonymous blog posts. And waste a lot of time. I mentioned in a previous post that my journal is a poor reflection of my life, because it contains mostly the times when I am down, or struggling. When life is good and busy, I don’t find the time. (Journal post here.)
Brother Joseph didn’t document the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood like he should have, and it caused him sorrow. – and there I was, being bugged about it, with most of my life undocumented.
I’m sorry, Joseph.
I’m so bad at keeping my journal up to date, but this inspired me to do better! Thanks, MMM!
He did not write down the first vision until 1832. Also another point to think about- is – at this time, writing for Joseph was still very difficult.With such little education, and he was not an elegant speaker by any means- not the one he would be later. He had scribes, but he was translating the BOM and his job was to focus on that not event keeping. I love the prophet. There are many things I still need to write down.
In a Priesthood Training meeting with one of the Seventy, we were taught, by the Seventy, that we don’t have the exact date of the visitation by Peter, James and John not because they forgot to record it, but because the restoration of the Melchezidek Priesthood was _not_ a one time thing. Elijah, Moses, and others had to restore keys as part of the full restoration. So the restoration in this instance wasn’t a one-time event, like John the Baptist, but rather a process.
P.S. I really love Joseph Smith. I’m amazed at how teachable he was, how willing to be corrected. Such a great example of humility and power.
Loved this post. My husband has been a great journal keeper and family history compiler and I always thought that having one of us doing all this was enough. Now I realize that those are his feelings and thoughts, but not mine. Maybe I should rethink .
I used to be a meticulous journal writer. Then, a few days after we moved, I had my journal on my bed. It included my marriage, honeymoon, the birth of my first two children, and basically 4 years of my life in it. That was the last time I saw it. I think it somehow got accidentally thrown out with packing materials. I still get sad when I think about it, so for several years I didn’t write at all, and just mourned the “lost manuscript.” Eventually, I morphed into blogging and that replaced the old journal habit. I realize it’s not a full replacement, but it’s better than nothing. Please forgive what might seem like blatant self-promotion, but I’m teaching a class at RootsTech conference in a couple weeks about Recording Life Authentically. It’s about journaling and blogging in a way that doesn’t just gloss over life, but “keeps it real” so to speak because even the hard times we go through can serve as inspiration to later generations. I love whatever glimpses into other people’s lives I can get that shows me how they deal positively with their struggles and ordinary lives.
Keeping a journal sounds like such a simple thing and yet is so hard. Don’t have time, I sound stupid. I am too tired. No one would be interested. Or I don’t want anyone to know. Cant decide on a format
I will always remember. (ha.ha.ha.) I don’t express myself well enough.
You are right. I should at least try.
Thus the reason I blog. Sort of my journal. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I wrote in a journal during my early teens and through my dad’s death. I read them a little later and was embarrassed by how stupid I thought I sounded and I……wait for it….
threw them away. I am heartsick about it. I can understand a little bit of Joseph’s sorrow.
I blogged a trip with my 7th grader to Washington DC in 2007, and later the same year, a trip to England. About three months ago, I discovered that for some reason Blogger deleted everything before August 2009, so those journal entries, posted each evening of the trips, are gone forever.
I actually did document my courtship with my husband and our wedding, birth of our first son all in a journal…that was on my computer desktop…which dissapeared when my hard drive fried. Hand written journals for me now!
Thanks for this. 🙂
Every time I have written in my journal it is always about the rough times. And looking back on it, I am often amazed at what an idiot I was.
Maybe that’s why I don’t write in my journal…it’s a constant reminder of what an idiot I am 🙂
I’m amazed that I am writting this but…Dear Frog, I can totally relate. I kept 8 pretty good journals in the ’90s and then when we were packing to move I read them and haven’t kept a journal since. I haven’t thrown them away because I just can’t but they are depressing. The most amazing thing about that is that I have had a blessed life. So on the upside I guess I overcame obstacles or maybe I was my own worse enemy.
Aside from my dwaddle, I think that this was a great blog MMM. There was only one perfect man on this earth and Joseph would be the first to acknowledge that. Praise to the man.
I’m so glad you posted about this because last Sunday as I was listening to this lesson I was so sure I was going to get an answer. They were just about to explain the lack of date and etc and I was on the edge of my seat. Literally. Right then, someone walks in and pulls me aside and asks me to quickly fill in for the sunbeams. I missed the explanation and I have been wondering all about it for a week now! I even went to go see what books I had on Joseph Smith that could give me some answers and didn’t find anything good. Sometimes we forget that Joseph Smith was not just a prophet, he was a man. A man who makes mistakes.
(Kara Anderson – mysteriously deleted)
“To make it worse, those who would see harm done to the Church have always seized on this lack of specificity to claim that it didn’t really happen…”
You know, things like that make me realize just how real it is. If there was a date for everything, it would be more likely to have all been contrived. But the fact that he forgot to write it down is so human, and he was so humble to admit such negligence.
I also regret not recording in my journal certain important things, especially that happened on my mission.
Just to make you feel a little better, I recently rediscovered my journal from about twenty years ago. It was during that time that I met the woman who would become my wife. In that time, we became engaged. And got married. Somehow I missed all of those events. And it isn’t like I was exactly blindsided by the whole wedding thing: we had plenty of time in the months of our engagement to catch up and describe my masterful proposal (in the car, driving down 90S in SLC, on our way to see _Groundhog Day_ with Bill Murray).
Actually, now that I think about it, I have never written it down. I clearly still possess some of the facts, and yet the whole event remains unrecorded. I’ll bet my grandchildren might some day want to hear the story. I suppose the wise thing would be to learn from Joseph’s sorrow and record as much as I can, even now twenty years later. Through his example, I can learn to avoid some of the sorrow he felt.
I’m grateful that he missed opportunities and felt sorrow for his shortcomings. I can relate to that. More importantly, I can learn from that.
Wow. And amen. I want to give that man the biggest hug. Emma too. He changed my life. And she had such a difficult one.